Broken Curse
by Aragorn331
Summary: Set after ICO and WAY after SOTC,and somewhat based on the original SOTC project title, NICO, three horned boys travel across the land to break the horned curse. More summary in chapter 1. R&R, rated T for creature violence and some mild language.
1. The Demon Boys

**Chapter 1:**

**The Demon boys**

**Set after both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Three village, horned boys** **seek a way to stop the curse of the horned legacy. With the help of the new shaman and three magic swords, they may yet save the village from this curse.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own both of the games, but I have seen game- play clips of Shadow of the Colossus and read the plot behind ICO, so I know what I'm doing.**

During ancient times, the days of Demons and monsters, it was said, in one village, that those who are born with horns would bring death and destruction to the village. But, three such boys were spared because the new shaman Lord Roras foresaw that he and the two others would lift the curse on his generation and the next and all generations. As the young ones grew, so too, did their horns, and they were feared by the villagers and revered by the shaman's followers. But, one girl, Miru, decided to help them instead of fear them, for even she had hope for these boys. Sometimes the guards wondered if the shaman was right to spare them.

One morning, the boys were ready to wake up when they heard giggling outside the house. Dema went up to the wall and put his ear against it. He heard talking and said, "It's those jerks again." Then, Cujak asked what should they do and Dema suggested a surprise attack on them. He told the other two the plan and went ahead with it. Dema went through the side window (or square whole in the wall whichever makes better sense to you) on the right and Cujak and Yopu went through the one on the left wall, they came out the alley way, looking in both directions and found three guys sidled on the wall, one on one side of the doorway, and two on the other. The three snuck up behind them and "BOO!" "AHH!" The three boys surprised the guys sidled on the wall and they were scared out of their wits. The horned boys laughed themselves silly and Yopu started to tear a bit and said, "Oh, you should've seen the looks on your faces." And he made a spooked face and gasped, mocking how terrified they were. "Yeah well, just wait until tomorrow, we'll get you then," one of the boys on the ground threatened. Then from behind, someone said, "You'll get whom tomorrow morning?" They turned to see Lord Roras, a tall, powerful looking man, with all facial hair and shoulder length white hair, sort of like Gandalf the white for those who have seen Lord of the Rings. Anyway, He stared at the three boys on the ground with a glare of intimidation and on of them stood up and lied, "No one sir." Then, Ruos gave them the evil eye, and the freaked out and ran off, the four of them, Roras and the horned boy giggling. "Thank you sir," Yopu said and Roras told him to just call him Roras.

Afterwards, the horned boys and Roras were drinking tea and enjoying some snacks in the shaman's temple, and some friendly conversation. Dema told Roras the tale of their surprise attack. "I see your hearing is improving well, perhaps better than that of a normal human," he commented, then Cujak asked, "But we are human, aren't we?" Roras stopped midway while drinking his tea. The room fell into silence as Roras stopped drinking his tea, and the three boys sat there looking confused and asking the same thing. Roras stopped drinking, placed the tea cup on the floor and placed his hands on his knees and sighed and said, "Well, you are almost human." Then the boys looked even more confused and Yopu asked, "What do you mean sir?" Roras took a moment to take in this question and told them, "Listen to me. What I am about to tell you, is historical, breath taking, and more importantly, it will impact your lives forever." Now, the boys were interested. They sat back as Roras began to tell them, "This story…." He paused, "…….is the origin of the horned curse."

**The turning point in their lives, the story that will motivate them to break this curse. More to come in chapter 2.**


	2. The Story of the Curse

**Chapter 2:**

**The Story of the curse**

**Now we look into the origin of the horned curse. For those who own Shadow of the Colossus, this is a playback of what you know and the curse's origin can be seen in the end of the game, you just need to pay close attention. I also forgot to mention, Dema has horns that curve upward, Cujak had horns that curve forward, and Yopu has ram like horns. And I'm mentioning this so you have an idea of what the horns look like. Oh, and they wear blackish gray clothing and boots like that guys in the Nico trailer if you've seen it.**

The boys sat there, shocked at what they heard. Cujak suddenly asked, "What do you mean origin of the horned curse?" "Exactly what I said, now please, pay attention," Roras said to Cujak, beginning the story.

"Now, our story begins long ago, before you three and I were even born. There was a young man, who was about your age. He had a love whose name was Mono. They loved each other very much, but unfortunately, due to a cruel twist of fate, Mono died by sacrifice. The young man didn't take it to well and was heart broken. And it occurred to him, he remembered the legend of a temple were dwells a being that can control the souls of the dead. But," "But what sir," Yopu asked and Roras, continuing said, "he was warned that the temple was cursed territory and should never be trespassed upon. However, he cared not if was cursed, for love had driven him to go to this place. And love had also driven him to take the one sword that can use the power of light. He, with his mighty steed Agro, traveled to the cursed temple and took Mono with them. After much travel, they finally arrived and when they entered, they came to a grand hallway filled with 16 statues of 16 different creatures. Then, the boy approached the altar and placed Mono on it. It was then he met Dormin, the being who controlled the souls of the dead. The young man pleaded Dormin to bring back the soul of Mono, and he agreed to do so. That was when they struck a bargain." Then Dema asked, "What was the bargain?"

"The bargain was that he was to destroy the 16 statues in the hall." "But how was he gonna do that? He's human, and last time I checked, humans can't destroy statues on their own." "I was just about to say that he was to destroy the incarnations of the statues, which are 16 colossi. And in return, Dormin would bring Mono back from the dead. But, the price for this was heavy and the young man didn't care. With that, he set out to destroy the 16 colossi; Valus the Minotaur, Quadratus the bull, Gaius the knight, Phaedra the horse, Avion the bird, Barba the bearded giant, Hydrus the sea serpent, Kuromori the wall shadowed lizard, Basaran the tortoise, Dirge the sand worm, Celosia the tiger, Pelagia the Sea Monster, Phalanx the Flying Serpent, Cenobia the Lion and brother of Celosia, Argus the warrior, and finally Malus the sorcerer."

With each colossus defeated, he grew more powerful and at the same time, he began to look more demon like." "What do you mean," Cujak asked. Roras explained how the essence of the colossus that absorbed into him made him look more like a corpse, his flesh paler and he clothes little ways torn. After the death of Malus, he truly became possessed. But, what he wasn't aware of, was that the shaman before my master, Lord Emon, was tracking him. And what Emon saw was a cursed boy, doomed to destroy everything. So, he ordered his followers to slay him. When they did, the demon Dormin became resurrected. Then, Emon ordered them to place a seal on the whole temple and took the Ancient sword with them." "What happened to the sword?" "Emon took the sword and threw it from the highest point of the stairway into the pool below. When he did, Dormin became sealed up, at least, that's what he thought." "What do you mean?" Cujak asked. "Well, Mono found a horned, infant child in the empty pool." The three of them had a surprised look on their faces and Dema asked, "So, what happened to them?" "Well, she cared for the child, and when Emon found out about him, he then declared that all horned children were dark omens of destruction and that any child, who bears horns, must be sacrificed." That was what got their attention. They looked shocked and Yopu said, "But, that's just wrong. They couldn't do that to an innocent kid." Roras then continued explaining how he to felt it unnecessary, and called this tradition a curse. Then Dema said, "So, the curse is that all those who follow in the bloodline of that guy grow horns?" "Almost, those who are touched by the spirit of that boy grow horns." Roras corrected.

He then began to explain, "When you three were born however, I foresaw a future for you three, not as evil beings, but saviours." They had no idea what he was talking about, so he then told them how he saw three horned boys walk up to and praying at a stone altar, and their horns vanished. They looked relieved and Dema said, "So, you're saying theirs a way to break the curse?" "There maybe, but the altar is on cursed ground, and no one can go to it anymore, for the bridge that takes you to one of the entrances was destroyed." Then, they looked depressed. "However, he forgot to look at the back of the temple," he said trying to give them a ray of hope, and Cujak asked, "What's at the back of the temple?" "Another entrance," he said. This made them happy and realize that there may yet be hope for ending this curse.

Roras then warned them that it could be dangerous and stood up and walked to an old chest. He opened it and he first took out what looked like a sword and said, "These swords, forged from the finest steel, and blessed by the shamans of old, will prove useful to you. For the sword will yield to the three forms of Dormin." He then handed the swords to Dema, Cujak, and Yopu. Dema unsheathed his first, and saw a regular looking, two handed sword that hadinward curves in the middle. Next, Cujak unsheathed his sword and saw a much thicker blade.Finally, Yopu saw a narrower, longer,hand-and-a-half sword.Roras then began to explain how these weapons will serve them in their task ahead and also informed them the true nature of their task, "You are to return the essence of the 16 colossi to their bodies, but to do this, you must first stab it's vulnerable point, then pray in front of the colossus, granting it life." They looked worried and Dema mentioned that it sounded hard, but Roras gave them confidence and told them he would give them the night to think about this.

Meanwhile, outside the door, and younger girl of 15, Miru, was standing outside. She gasped and placed her hand on her sternum and panted a bit. She looked back at the door and thought, What if they do go? I may never see them again.

Back in the room, Roras then stated, "Be warned, for the colossi have taken new, more deadly forms than before and are filled with more rage than they once were. Should you find them and return their essences, their normal state will return and their rage shall subside." The boys looked at each other for a second and Roras broke the brief and said. "The choice is now yours. Will you three restore peace to this world, or leave it in darkness forever?"

**Hard decisions and rough times lie ahead. More to come in chapter 3.**


	3. The Final Decision

**Chapter 3:**

**The Final Decision**

**Last Good-byes**

**Disclaimer: I also don't know how to get vowels with apostrophes over them, so if anyone can tell me how to do that, that would be great because the "e" in Dema is really the "e" with the apostrophe over it.**

That night, the boys were sitting in their little house talking it over. "I think we should go. We could look human," Yopu said, but Dema objected, "At what cost? We could risk our lives doing something like this. But, we would be putting their lives out of harms way." Then Cujak agreed with Yopu by mentioning that looking human is better than laying in a ditch for the rest of eternity, and Dema mentioned living is better than looking human, so the only reason for going is safety.

"Still, I don't want to be remembered as the most feared person because of some horns poking out of my head. I say we go for it," Cujak added. Then they heard silent foot steps coming outside the door. They faced the door to see Miru in her usual white dress with a platter of food. "Dinner's here boys. I hope your hungry," she said as placed the platter on the ground in front of them. Cujak and Yopu thanked her and began eating very quickly, but Dema wasn't eating as fast. Instead he sat their slowly eating and with a depressed look on his face. Miru faced him and asked what was wrong. "It's nothing, I was just thinking," he said, and Miru asked if it was about leaving the village and he told her, "Yes."

She sat next to Dema and she stared at him for awhile. The room fell silent, except for Cujak's and Yopu's consumption, until, "I don't think you should go," Miru commented in worry. Cujak and Yopu looked at Miru and Dema, and Cujak said, "Well I feel this maybe a need for some privacy, so, we'll be outside if you need us." With that, both Cujak and Yopu left Miru and Dema alone. They stared at each other and Dema disagreed with Miru, but he mentioned that if they didn't leave, they could put the entire village in danger. "But, if you leave, I may never see you, Cujak, or Yopu again. And I don't want to lose you."

"And you won't, we'll be back. I promise you that."

"But, what if you don't? I could never forgive myself for letting you do something so dangerous."

Dema took a moment to think, then said, "You're a very caring person Miru, but we can't stay like this forever, you know that. Eventually, the soldiers could take us and sacrifice us against Roras' will." She then looked shocked, and thought about it. They could take them in the middle of the night and kill them.

She paused and closed her eyes for a minute. Then, a tear rolled down her right cheek and said, "Then you should go, and save yourselves. But, if you do, remember that you will come back. And promise me you will be careful," she said and placed her hands over Dema's left hand. He stared down, then looked at her and nodded. "I will, and don't worry. We'll be back."

She cracked a smile and said, "Good, because I love all three of you like brothers. The three of you and I, we're like a family to me." "That's right, and families are always together." She then rested her head on Dema's shoulder and closed her eyes. Then, Cujak and Yopu entered the room again, looking at Dema, who then stared at them. Cujak asked, "Well, have you decided yet?" Dema stared at Miru for a minute and said, "We leave tomorrow morning."

The next morning, the boys and Miru stopped at the Lord Roras' and told him they accepted. "Good, now we must get you well dressed," Roras said and the boys looked confused, because they had no idea what he was up to. He approached the trunk where he pulled out the weapons, and this time, he pulled out three sets of clothes that looked the same, black tunics, gloves, boots, and long pants. "These wardrobes will be necessary on your journey. As well as these." He then pulled out three bows and quivers. "I believe they well prove useful to you."

The boys willingly took them and belted them on their backs. They then took the clothes and changed, everyone else was looking the other way. After awhile, they finished up and Roras said, "Oh, I almost forgot." He then pulled out three helms, and not the kind that have a visor. These ones had only eyes for seeing, and little slits just below the eyes for breathing. Each helmet was different.

Dema's helmet was flat on the front, Cujak's had a nose shaped like a boar's, and Yopu's had what looked like a bird's beak on it. "These helmets will protect your faces, for no one else must find out who you really are," Roras stated. He then began to explain how he forgot to mention about stabbing the vital points in order to get the essence back into the colossus.

With that, Roras gave each of them horses and they said their good byes to Roras. Next, they turned to Miru, and Cujak began to say, "Miru, you've helped us a lot. Now it is time we handled this on our own." Then Yopu, "We thank you for all the years you've helped us, now it is time we returned the favor." (If you're confused, he means getting rid of the horns). Finally, Dema, "You've given us something that no one in this village has ever given us, love. Even though this isn't the way to do it, but it is time we gave it back."

Having said these things, Miru thanked them and wished them good luck. Afterwards, she gave each of them a hug and a quick kiss on the lips. Then, they dawned on the helms, mounted their horses, but before they could leave, Roras told them when they reach an arch where the bridge used to be, turn left and follow the trail to the valley below (This he knows because he men did some scouting for him, and they had no idea what he was planning to do with the path).

Now, they rode off after agreeing to take the left, out of the village and into the wide world.

It took them many days to ride out of the woods, through the mountains and back into a forest, where they first got a glimpse of the temple itself. They stopped their horses for a brief second to see the tower, and they continued. In the next few hours, they reached an archway with two towers, and like Roras told them to do, with made a left turn and proceeded to the path that would lead them to the colossi, and path to a normal human life.


	4. Valus the Minotaur

**Chapter 4:**

**The First Colossus**

**Valus the Minotaur**

**Now we get to the real action. Just give a little insight, the fighting is done almost the same as in Shadow of the Colossus, except the colossi won't die if you've paid attention to the second chapter.**

A day and a half later, the boys have found nothing and decide to rest for awhile and continue later. "It's been a day and a half dammit, and we haven't found one single colossi," Cujak said in anger and Dema replied, "Calm down, I'm sure we'll find one. We just need to know where we're going." But, that was it; they had no idea where they were going. All the while, Yopu was fidgeting with his sword, just looking at it and admiring its design. He held it up to the sun, when the blade started to glow. Yopu jumped in surprise, and dropped the sword. Then, the shimmer vanished.

Cujak sighed and asked, "Yopu did you drop your sword again?" He nodded, but he looked like he saw a ghost. Dema then asked, "Are you alright, you look like you were attacked by a dead spirit or something." Yopu then went into how his sword was glowing when he held it up to the sun. Of course, neither of them believed him and just laughed away. Yopu then had an upset/mad look on his face. After the other two stopped laughing, Cujak then said, "Are you kidding me, swords don't glow." "Yeah, so you're telling us that when I put sword up to the sun like this," Dema said as he drew his sword and held it up, "that it'll start to glow." As he did, a light shimmered from the sword.

Cujak was surprised, but Yopu had the satisfied look on his face this time and he bragged, "Ha! See? I told you!" Cujak and Dema glared at Yopu and then looked back at Dema's sword. As he brought it down, the glimmer faded. So, Cujak decided all three of them should hold their swords up and see what happens. Dema and Yopu nodded, and Cujak drew his sword. They held it up, and all three blades were glowing. The light from the swords narrowed, pointing to a canyon southwest from where they were standing.

Cujak then asked Dema, "What do you think this means?" He looked at the top of the cliff and saw a straight ray of light pointing down, he then figured it out. "I think this means, we found the first colossus."With that, the boys gathered their things and headed toward the pillar of light, the cliff, and the first colossus.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the abandoned temple, black forms of humans began coming out of the ground. As they did, a mysterious voice said in the ancient language, "_So, three of the cursed ones think they can replace my power with the souls of a mortal? No matter. We shall deal with them, when the time comes. Though I doubt they will manage to defeat the first of the new colossi."_ And it cackled a low laugh and 16 spirits fully rose out of the ground.

* * *

A few miles later of nothing, but dessert and more dessert, they finally stopped and the base of the cliff and found a pathway that lead to the top. Yopu looked around and asked, "Well where is it?" They kept looking, but couldn't find it. Then, Cujak looked up, gazed at the pathway and thought what if the colossus is on top of the cliff? He then announced his proposal to the other two, who looked at each other, and reluctantly agreed with him. So, they got off the horses and started climbing.

It took them a long while, but they finally reached the top. When they did, they saw nothing, but a wide plateau. They walked up, and Dema fell to his knees. "Maybe these things don't even exist," he said in despair. Cujak and Yopu felt disappointed too, so they turned back to the walkway, until…_boom_…_boom_. They felt little quakes getting bigger. _BOOM…BOOM…BOOM._ Then, they saw him walking through the plateau, the colossus, only he didn't look like the Valus the Minotaur you know. He looked more bull like on the head, his hands and feet were replaced with thick pillars, and his body was made of nothing, but steel and stone (keep in mind that the stone is soft, but not too soft).

As he was walking, he walked way from the boys, but that wouldn't stop them. They looked at him, and Cujak asked, "How are we going to get a thing like that, to spot three little ants like us?" Then, Yopu had an idea; he could shoot it with an arrow to get his attention. So, he pulled out his bow, strung it, and nocked an arrow. Dema and Cujak looked at each other, confused. Yopu ran up, aim at Valus, and he released his arrow, sending it to his target. Lucky for him, he managed to hit Valus in the back. Dema and Cujak were surprised as Valus turned around. Next, the boys ran up to the colossus, and Valus suddenly noticed the boys and the fight was on.

Valus swung his right arm back, preparing to attack, but the boys just kept on running. Dema suddenly stopped and had an idea. He called Cujak and Yopu to him. Seeing his moment, Valus began to swing his arm to his target: the three boys. Dema, looking at his attack, pushed Cujak and Yopu and told them to move, and Dema ran with them. Valus' attack missed luckily. Then Dema asked, "So, you guys know the plan?" They nodded. Then, Cujak and Yopu ran to the colossus, as did Dema, but he ran to the back side of Valus, for both Cujak and Yopu acted as distractions. Valus swung at them again with the same arm. Valus aimed his attack at Cujak, who managed to dodge at the right moment.

Meanwhile, Dema managed to get on Valus' left leg. This was how far he got in his plan, and he never figured how to get to the head from there. At that moment, Valus felt Dema on his leg, and started swinging it back and forth. Dema, being swung back and forth, had no idea what he was doing. He then figured, maybe the vital spot Roras was talking about might be on his leg. So, he drew his sword, and held it high in the air, preparing to stab the back knee. This was difficult to do on account of the swinging. Cujak and Yopu were panting from the serious running, and Yopu said, "I hope he finds the vital spot soon, because I'm getting tired of this running." But, Valus just kept swinging his leg, and Dema still had a hard time trying to stab the leg. Then at last, he drove the sword into the leg. Valus grunted as he felt the pain and dropped his leg. Dema, then drew the sword out of the leg and saw the blood spraying out. Thinking this would take to long, Cujak drew his sword and held it up, hoping it would point to the vital point. And it did. Turns out, the vital point is on the head.

Before they could inform Dema of this, he drove the sword into the back knee. As Valus felt this, he fell on both his knees and then on all fours. Dema then pulled the sword out of the back knee. As he did, he noticed Cujak and Yopu heading for the head. He asked himself, why the head? So, he began climbing up the leg to find out why. As both Cujak and Yopu got on the head, they started climbing to the higher portion of it. As they climbed up, Valus felt their foot steps and looked towards his forehead. Valus, then began to stand on both his legs, then up straight, with all three boys hanging on tight. As Valus stood up straight, he began to shake his violently, attempting to shake off Cujak and Yopu. As this was happening, Dema was climbing up the back of Valus, but he was too busy shaking off Cujak and Yopu to notice.

Dema had to get to the head quickly if he wanted to help his friends, so he had an idea. He started to climb up the showing spinal cord, and after he got to the last one, he sent all his energy to his legs, and with a great push, he jumped at the least 5 to 6 ft. He then landed on the head and knelt to his knees. After Cujak and Yopu looked up to see Dema, Dema asked, "What the hell are you to doing on the head?" They then told him that was where the vitals were. At first Dema didn't believe them, but after holding his sword up, "Oh," he said. Then, he told Cujak and Yopu to get ready for the stab. As Valus continued to shake, Cujak shouted, "NOW!" and they lunged into the head. Valus roared as the blades made contact with the head. Then, blood sprayed out of the three stab wounds.

With that done, the boys needed a way down to make the necessary prayer. So, they got off the head, and slid down the front, holding on to the torso. As they stopped, they let go and made contact with the ground. Once they did, they needed to get some distance between Valus, so they ran as far as they could. But, Valus managed to get their attention by roaring. As they turned around, they noticed Valus heading towards them, losing his balance from the blood loss. As he tried to stand tall, he instantly glared at the boys and prepared to swing his left arm at them. And, he swung his arm, while at the same time, the boys tried to run as fast as possible. When the attack made contact with the ground, the force from the collision flung them a few feet.

But, that would never stop them. As they got up, they went down on one knee, and mumbled to themselves the prayer; _Oh great colossus, we pray to thee that you will receive your power and return to the great creature you once were._ As they said it, a black stream of energy flowed out of them and started heading for Valus. Then, as the streams pointed at the stab wounds, they plunged into the head. But it stopped after they made contact, and after a few seconds, they rushed into the head and the transformation had begun.

As the streams went in, Valus held his arms to his head. After awhile, his arms began to crack and so did his legs. Then, they broke, light emitting from them and the rest of his body. A little while later, the light faded, revealing the normal Valus we all know and love. He lowered his arms and grabbed his club from his back (that's my theory of where his club would go when he's not holding it). He looked down on the boys, which spooked them a bit. He glared at them, the boys wondering what he's going to do next. Will Valus attack, or move on and leave them?


End file.
